NOTE: Is it just my imagination or are many of the major players in the Pacific a bit cannon heavy when compared to what the USMC and US Army would consider standard? The S. Koreans and Singapore in particular seem to put a greater emphasis on organic fires when it comes to their mechanized forces than we do. What do they know that we don't?
I dont know how many cannons do they have more than the equivalent US formation but it seems to me that they deliberatly want to be artilerry heavy knowing full well the limited manoeuvre space available to both them and their enemy and the need to saturate that space with long distance ordanance. Knowing the exact number of artilerry systems/formation and their type will clarify this issue though.
ReplyDeleteSo Wikipedia is saying that the South Koreans possess more than a 1000 M109 varients. That is quiet an impressive number. I dont think North Korea has that many air assets that can be used to quickly target them and remove them from the equation if that number is correct.
DeleteIt also says Taiwan has 225 M109. Now thats a number Beijing with its numbers and means can suppress unfortunatly.
In last war the enemy used a mass infantry attack tactic, many of them had been stooped only by massive artillery barrages. Maybe that is also a reason of high level of artillery.
DeleteThat number....1000+ is still resonating in my mind. A thousand plus mobile artillery platforms being used in a space devoid theatre. Now, are all of them being used or is a significant number mothballed under some secret mountain base ?
DeleteProbably most of them in reserve, just to be sure they have enough to replace any loss. Massive fire wall's are also probably the main defense tactic of South Koreans.
DeleteShas
Delete"In last war the enemy used a mass infantry attack tactic, many of them had been stooped only by massive artillery barrages. Maybe that is also a reason of high level of artillery."
Bingo.
A cannon tube puts a 155mm projectile on target 24/7/365, rain or shine, day or night, anywhere in its range fan. It costs $200K-ish for a towed piece, and maybe double that for an SP gun, and $98/round to shoot, at 2-6 rounds/min, forever.
ReplyDeleteAn F-18 costs $1M@ for the pilot/NFO, and a F/A-18 goes for $50-80M@. For one plane.
If they ever deliver an F-35, we can compare the costs for that when it happens.
Plus fuel, spares, ordnance, airfields, and all the personnel to keep it flying.
So for the price of one modern aircraft, you can outfit just about an entire regiment of field artillery, including the money for practice and training, which ain't bad for countries which can't just print more money to buy more planes.
In the forests of south east asia, its still easier to hide a self propelled gun than to deforest the area with planes
ReplyDeleteThe ROK's military structure is based on the theory of the resumption of the Korean War, where they would encounter 1.5 million communist troops(North Korean Army + PLA) in human wave attacks.
ReplyDeleteIn order not to repeat the course of the first Korean War, the ROK Army needs to be artillery heavy, to be able to defeat the human wave attack with 500K rounds of MLRS, thousands of cannons, etc, to essentially create a "Hell On Earth" battle field at a range longer than the communist cannons.
What is the organic organization? If they still have the Corps artillery in addition to the organic artillery then yes they would have more than the USMC and more than most Army Corps could field. The US Army still has a couple of Fires Brigades in the national guard.
ReplyDeleteUsually when the poorer national needs additional fires it turns to cannon artillery. South Africa is the best example where in heavy combat it needed additional fires but could not field a large modern Air Force. Instead the South Africans developed some of the best cannon artillery in the world.
So where the US can buy a mix of sustained area affect fires (cannon artillery), and one shot smash stuff on the move fires (strike aircraft), other countries are forced to budget much more carefully. Once you factor in modern PGM costs, a dumb cannon round fired out of a modern howitzer is much cheaper.